Dynamic content configuration for microbrowsers by state, resource allocation and user preferences

ABSTRACT

A microbrowser such as web-enabled wireless telephones and personal digital assistants allows a user to configure types of objects to be blocked from download including object memory consumption, display area, download time, and restrictions on animated images and executable scripts. Microbrowser state conditions such as battery level and network connection mode are considered when providing said limitations such that more restrictions may be placed during low battery periods to maximize battery life. For example, during low battery conditions or analog connection mode, a user may configure an enhanced microbrowser not to download advertisements, run scripts or animated objects in order to maximize remaining battery life. In another example, a user may configure an enhanced microbrowser to block the download of objects containing audio, or which will occupy more than a certain percentage of the available display area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to the art of dynamic configuration ofserver content for delivery to a client or terminal device, such as aWAP-enabled telephone or personal digital assistant, over a computernetwork, such as the Internet. The invention relates especially to thearts of automatically grooming or tailoring the content delivered to amicrobrowser having limited resources and capabilities such that onlycontent preferred by the user or compatible with the microbrowser isdelivered.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] The proliferation of e-commerce on the World Wide Web (WWW) hasoffered immense potential for revenue generation through advertisements.The web offers unprecedented opportunities for personalizedadvertisements, and there has been stunning innovations in customizedadvertising over the last few years.

[0005] Additionally, the “web-enablement” of various handheld terminalsincluding wireless telephones (“cell phones” and PCS phones) as well aswirelesss-networked personal digital assistants (PDA) have added to thearray of potential “browsing” devices which may interact with a webserver and its content. The number of users of such devices is steadilyincreasing, so the demand for web site content which is targeted forthese devices is also expected to continue to grow.

[0006] Turning to FIG. 1, the well-known arrangement of client browsercomputers (1), web servers (5) and Advertising servers (“Ad Server”) (6)are shown. The client browser computer (1) typically is equipped withsoftware such as a web browser and a communications protocol stack suchthat it may connect to and communicate via the World Wide Web (3).Client browser computers include conventional personal computers such asIBM-compatible personal computers and Apple iMac [TM] computers.

[0007] Other “microbrowser” devices (9), such as web-enabled wirelesstelephones and PDAs, WebTV terminals and Internet appliances, may alsoaccess information from the Web Server (5) and Ad Server (6).

[0008] A web server (5) is usually provided with one or more data filesof web page content such that they may be delivered to a client browsercomputer upon request, such as by hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).The web server is also communicably connected to the World Wide Web (3)or another suitable computer network. IBM's WebSphere [TM] enterpriseserver software combined with a suitable networking computing platform,such as a personal computer running IBM's AIX [TM] operating system, isan example of one such web server (5).

[0009] The microbrowser devices (9), though, typically have lowerperformance and considerable resource restrictions when compared tocomputer browsers (1), including much less memory, much smaller displayarea (and fewer colors in many cases), much slower microprocessor, aswell as considerably slow transmission rate between the network (3) andthe devices (8, 2).

[0010] For example, a Web Server may easily deliver a component to a webpage over a dial-up modem connection or cable modem (2) from a standardweb browser (1) on a personal computer having a 750 MHz processor, 128MByte or more of memory, a full 1024 by 768 pixel, 24-bit color palettedisplay over a 56 kbit/sec or higher data link using a common protocolsuch as Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The web pages themselvesmay be encoded in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).

[0011] By contrast, the microbrowser device may only have a 100 MHzprocessor, 32 MByte of memory, a data link of a few kilobits per second,and may run a protocol such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) ori-Mode. Due to these restrictions in resources, often on the scale ofone-tenth the capabilities of a standard web browser, the specialprotocols (WAP, i-Mode, etc.) have been developed to minimize the numberof communication messages or “handshakes” which occur during a web pageaccess. This supports effective use over the lower communicationsbandwidth typically available to such devices, as well as reduces theresource requirements (processing bandwidth, memory, etc.) needed on thedevices to some degree.

[0012] WAP and protocols like it are intended for use by devices such ashandheld digital wireless mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios,“smartphones” and communicators, although it could be applied to “higherend” devices such as personal computer or laptop computer-based webbrowsers. WAP itself is defined to be interoperable with most wirelessnetworks, including cellular digital packet data (CDPD), code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM),time division multiple access (TDMA), and many others. These protocolsare generally operating-system independent or can be used with a widevariety of operating systems which are common in such devices, includingPalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS, and others.

[0013] To further enhance the “wireless” web browsing experience, manyweb servers and advertising (“ad”) servers maintain two separate sets ofcontent: a “normal” set in HTML for normal browsers, and an “optimized”set in Wireless Markup Language (WML) for wireless browsers. HTML, HTTP,WML, WAP and i-Mode are well known in the art.

[0014] Some web pages include advertisements, such as banner ads, whichinclude information for a user to view regarding products or servicesbeing promoted by the sponsors of the web server or web page beingviewed. Many online businesses including search engines, travelservices, news services, etc., have become dependent on generation ofrevenue through advertising as many of these companies offer their“services” at not cost to the web “visitor”.

[0015] These “ads” are typically delivered by an Ad Server (6), which isalso connected to the Internet or World Wide Web (3). In FIG. 2, thewell-known process of merging ads (23) and web page contents (24) to bedisplayed on a portion of a client display (20) in a web browser frame(21) is shown.

[0016] The web browser frame (21) typically includes a set of navigationcontrols (22) such as Back and Forward buttons, as well as a UniversalResource Locator (URL) address selector. Displayed in the display frameof the web browser is the selected (“pointed to”) web page content (24),which is retrieved (26) from the web server (5) using a protocol such asHTTP.

[0017] An ad (23) located on the page is delivered typically from aseparate server such as and Ad Server (6), through a common web pageinclusion method in the code for the page content, such as a directhyperlink (25) to the advertising object on the ad server (5), orthrough an Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) “include” statement. Thesead objects are typically graphic image files, such as GraphicInterchange Format (GIF) or Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG),additional web page code such as HTML, or even audio or video clips suchas “WAV” or “AVI” files.

[0018] The web browser software first retrieves a base web page from theweb server, and then retrieves all the data items or objects which arereferred to in the web page code, such as a graphic image or additionalsections of HTML. Thus, what is displayed to the user after retrievingall of the referred to objects, is a combination of all the itemsincluded in the web page source code.

[0019] As processing capabilities, memory storage availability, andcommunications bandwidth are severely limited when serving amicrobrowser, may web server or web site operators choose to only offera subset in WML of their full “normal” content, in order to minimizeupkeep and maintenance costs of the special WML content.

[0020] However, this may still produce an undesirable wireless webbrowsing experience for a microbrowser user. For example, a searchengine web site may decide that, due to commercial considerations, theywill include a set of banner ads in their WML content. This, then, takestime to download to the microbrowser, consumer processing bandwidth andmemory, and consumes valuable display area on the microbrowser. As thecommercial paradigm is different in wireless web browsing (connectiontime is usually charged by the minute rather than a flat-rate per monthin regular web browsing), an ad which takes a long time to download willcause a negative consumer reaction as it uses his or her “minutes” andresults in increased cost for services for the user.

[0021] Also consider that most of these types of microbrowsers arebattery-driven in order to provide mobility to the user. As each ofthese advertisements are downloaded, displayed and/or animated, theyincrementally increase battery energy consumption through increasedprocessor and resource (display, memory) usage. This, too, will cause anegative consumer reaction because they are aware that time “wasted”downloading and displaying such adds eventually results in an earlier“battery low” warning.

[0022] As such, the current technology allows the proprietor of a website to customize the web site content to optimize performance forbrowsing by a microbrowser, but the user is left with no control ormethod for selecting which web content objects to download or to omitfrom a delivered page in order to minimize download times (andconnection costs), to maximize display usefulness, and to maximizebattery life.

[0023] There are methods in the art for “content negotiation”, which arewell known and which could possibly be applied to this problem. However,these methods generally include more messages or “handshakes” (e.g.,client-server interaction steps) to negotiate which content is availableand which content to deliver, making the protocol even moreresource-intensive than a nonnegotiable protocol. For example, theInternet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) 1998 Request for Commentsnumber 2295 (RFC2295) proposes a process wherein multiple “variants” ofcontent are stored on a server, and a list of available variants andtheir characteristics is delivered the client or browser device. Theclient or browser device may then select which variant to download. Notonly does this increase the number of messages sent back and forth tocommunicate the list and to select the variants, it increasessubstantially the operating burden of the web site to includemaintenance, testing, etc., of all the variants. Another IETF Requestfor Comments, RFC 2703, acknowledges the need for a protocol-independentcontent negotiation technology, but merely provides and framework ofproblems to be solved and does not provide a solution to the problem.

[0024] So, to employ content negotiation method to a protocol such asWAP would necessarily increase the resource requirements (processingpower, communications bandwidth, memory consumption) above and beyondthe requirements of the current WAP protocol. As the current WAPprotocol is of marginal performance in some situations already, aproposal to increase its resource requirements to add performancenegotiability would not be well-received in the industry.

[0025] Some available products for browsers allow a user to configure a“shield” from advertising objects, such as Norton's Internet Securitysoftware package. These software products typically run in the“background” on a personal computer, examining all data objects beingreceived by the browser software. Any objects which appear to be “userdeselected” object types are not fully downloaded, and are notdisplayed. These types of products, though, due to their very nature oftheir operation, require significant “extra” processor bandwidth andmemory so that their “background” operation does not noticeablydepreciate the performance of the normal web browser, and as such, arenot suitable for use on a microbrowser.

[0026] Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method toallow a user to control or select which web objects are downloaded to amicrobrowser without adding significant resource requirements to themicrobrowser's execution or use, including it's display area, processingbandwidth, communications bandwidth, and memory consumption.

[0027] Additionally, there is a need in the art for this system andmethod to be easily deployable throughout an existing network to avoidthe difficult or expensive retrofitting of microbrowser devices withspecial hardware or software.

[0028] Further, there is a need in the art for this system and method tobe compatible with other technologies already present in the wirelessweb environment, including protocols (WAP, i-Mode, etc.) and objectformats (WML, HTML, etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] The following detailed description, when taken in conjunctionwith the figures presented herein, provides a complete disclosure of theinvention.

[0030]FIG. 1 illustrates the well-known arrangement of ad servers, webservers, microbrowsers and client browser computers interconnected bythe World Wide Web or similar computer network.

[0031]FIG. 2 illustrates the well-known process of delivering electronicadvertisements and web page contents to a client web browser computer.

[0032]FIG. 3 graphically discloses the general arrangement andcooperation of the components of the preferred embodiment relative to aserver and a microbrowser.

[0033]FIG. 4 shows the logical process of the invention as performed bya microbrowser.

[0034]FIG. 5 shows the logical process of the invention as performed bya server.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0035] The present invention offers several improvements in the art ofdelivering electronic content such as advertisements for consumption,e.g., viewing and/or hearing, by a user on a microbrowser by allowingthe user to configure which types of objects are not to be downloaded toby the microbrowser, including parameters and characteristics such asmemory consumption, display area consumption, communications bandwidthconsumption, battery conditions and other state characteristics of themicrobrowser.

[0036] For example, during low battery conditions, a user may configurean enhanced microbrowser not to download advertisements, run scripts oranimated objects in order to maximize remaining battery life. In anotherexample, a user may configure an enhanced microbrowser to block thedownload of objects containing audio, or which will occupy more than acertain percentage of the available display area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] According to the preferred embodiment, the present invention isrealized as software processes executed on or by advertisement serverssuch as an IBM Web Sphere [TM] e-commerce platform, running on a commonweb server computer such as a personal computer or and IBM AS/400computer system. The IBM WebSphere [TM] product is available for manyoperating systems such as Linux, IBM's AIX [TM], or Microsoft WindowsNT. However, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art thatalternate e-commerce software suites and computer platforms may beadopted without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

[0038] A portion of the invention may also be realized as codeexecutable by a microbrowser device, such as inline code modificationsto an existing microbrowser firmware package or a downloadable script orplug-in for such a microbrowser, compatible with popular operatingsystems for such devices including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS,OS/9, JavaOS, and others.

[0039] As such, the remainder of this disclosure focuses on the logicalprocesses to be implemented in software on a web server, ad server, andmicrobrowser.

[0040] Turning to FIG. 3, the invention's logical process and componentarrangement is shown. First, a microbrowser device (33) is provided withan advertisement configuration (34) data set which can be interrogatedby a server. This Advertisement Configuration Data set (34) (ACD) mayinclude a plurality of user-defined limitations, such as a maximumdownload time (per object and/or per page), maximum display area (perobject and/or per page), number of permitted colors, amount of memoryallowed, and preferences based upon states of the microbrowser such asbattery condition (AC powered, battery full, battery low, etc.),wireless connection mode (digital, analog, home network, roaming, etc.),display backlight mode (on or off), etc.

[0041] Two sets of conditions are provided according to the preferredembodiment—one for normal battery conditions, and the other set for lowbattery conditions. A third set for AC-powered conditions may also beprovided. Table 1 shows an example ad configuration data set which couldbe stored in a plain text file on a microbrowser. TABLE 1 Example AdConfiguration Data Set when AC_powered: max_memory_per_object = 8kmax_load_time_per_page = 30 sec animation = allowed colors = fullmax_screen_area = 400% scripts = allowed when low_battery:max_memory_per_object = 2k max_load_time_per_page = 10 sec animation =disallowed colors = 2 max_screen_area = 100% scripts = disallowed whennormal_battery: max_memory_per_object = 4k max_load_time_per_page = 20sec animation = disallowed colors = full max_screen_area = 100% scripts= allowed

[0042] In this example, the user has configured the microbrowser to runscripts only when the unit is AC powered or when the battery is not low,and the user has restricted objects from downloading which use more than2 colors when the battery is low. Anytime the unit is battery powered,the user has restricted the downloading of animated objects, and hasprogressively restricted the size the download time for objects based onbattery conditions. However, when the unit is AC powered, the user hasconfigured an allowance for a maximum display area to go beyond a singlescreen or display area, which would require scrolling to view.

[0043] In another embodiment, the ACD may be stored on the microbrowseras a cookie. In this case, the server which creates the cookie may allowthe user to configure specific limitations for that site only. Forexample, a user who frequently visits a news service site may beprovided with a series of pages in which he or she may specific webobject limitations for his or her microbrowser. The news site serverwould then prepare a cookie containing these limitations, and wouldstore that in the memory of the user's microbrowser. During subsequentvisits to the news web site, the cookie could be retrieved in order toobserve and follow the user's configured limitations.

[0044] Other microbrowser state conditions for which preferences may beset in the ACD can be type of wireless connection (digital, analog, homenetwork, roaming, etc.), display light conditions (display backlightenabled or disabled), muting, etc. For example, advertisements andobjects which require lengthy download times may be blocked when thewireless connection mode is “roaming” to avoid unnecessary connectioncosts.

[0045] Continuing with the discussion of FIG. 3, the server for themicrobrowser (30) is provided with two sets of conventional web objects,a first of which is a web of normal WML page content objects (31). Thesecond set is a set of advertisement objects (32), which may also beencoded in a suitable format such as WML, graphics interchange format(GIF), joint photographics experts graphics (JPEG), audio (WAV), video(AVI), or other type of web encoding (MPEG, MP3, PDF, etc.) Each of theobjects in the advertisement set (32) and preferably in the page contentset (31) are also indexed as to their resource requirements such asnumber of colors required, animation or still, display area,transmission size/time, and whether or not they are or include a script.According to the preferred embodiment, this information is stored in aseparate index or database I (36) in order to avoid the need to modifythese standard objects. The index I (36) may be built and populatedmanually, or preferably, by an analysis tool which generates theseassociated characteristics.

[0046] Finally, the server (30) is provided with a Dynamic WirelessAdvertisement Configurator (35) (DWAC) program, which in response to ageneric page request from the microbrowser (33), receives the adconfiguration data set (34) from the microbrowser, determines which, ifany, of the objects within the requested page fit within the configuredlimitations using the index I (36), and retrieves those objects (31, 32)for transmission to the microbrowser (33). The DWAC program ispreferably realized as a Java servlet, but may alternately be realizedin other programming languages and methodologies without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

[0047] Turning to FIG. 4, the logical process followed by themicrobrowser unit is shown in more detail. This process may be realizedas an enhancement to the resident microbrowser code, or as adownloadable component such as a script or a microbrowser plug-in.First, the microbrowser is configured (40) to include an AdConfiguration Data set (34), or ACD, which is stored in memory such asnon-volatile Flash or on a microdrive.

[0048] Then, while browsing the “wireless web” (3), the ACD istransmitted (41) in association with page requests (43). This may beaccomplished in two ways. First, the page request may be enhanced toinclude the ACD information, such that it is always included with thepage request. Or, it may be transmitted only upon request from a server.The second method is more easily implemented, as it does not require amodification to the WAP protocol, and only require the server's servletto interact with the code enhancements on the microbrowser.

[0049] Further according to the preferred embodiment, the microbrowserselects which ACD or portion of its ACD to sent based upon presentconditions such as the battery or AC power conditions, system clock,etc.

[0050] After the server has selected the appropriate web objects whichmeet the constraints of the supplied ACD, the microbrowser receives,displays and otherwise executes (42) the configured page content (44).

[0051] Turning to FIG. 5, the corresponding and cooperating serverlogical process is shown in more detail. Preferably, this process isrealized in a Java servlet, but may alternately be realized as a scriptor code change to a WML or other wireless application server softwarepackage.

[0052] When a page request is received via a wireless network (3), anACD is also received or requested (51) (see previous description of FIG.4). The index I (36) is consulted to determine which, if any, of theobjects contained in the requested page meet the constraints set forthin the ACD (52), which are then transmitted as configured content (44)via the wireless web (3) to the requesting microbrowser.

[0053] As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, thepresent invention may be utilized with “wired” microbrowsers, as well,such as Internet appliances and WebTV units. Anywhere and anytimebrowser resources are limited, the present invention may be useful inallowing the user to configure the allowed and disallowed web content tobe downloaded. For example, the invention could be used to allow olderpersonal computers which have limited resources (monochrome displays,limited memory and processor capabilities, slow modem, etc.) to continueto be useful as web browsers.

[0054] As such, the use of terms such as “wireless”, “wireless web”,specific protocols such as WAP, and specific web object formats such asWML should not be seen as limitations to the scope of the invention, butrather are facets of the preferred embodiment. Therefore, the scope ofthe present invention should be determined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically selecting web objectsfor delivery to a resource-limited microbrowser based upon userpreferences and the state of the microbrowser, said web objects havingone or more associated characteristics, said method comprising the stepsof: receiving a data set of at least one microbrowser receivinglimitation including a microbrowser state condition; selecting one ormore web objects having characteristics which meet said receivinglimitation and microbrowser state condition; and transmitting saidselected web objects to a microbrowser.
 2. The method as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said step of selecting one or more web objects comprisesconsulting an index of web object characteristics.
 3. The method as setforth in claim 1 wherein said step of receiving a data set comprisesreceiving a limitation indication selected from the group of a maximumtransmission time, a maximum number of display colors, a maximum displayarea, a maximum memory consumption, a restriction on executable code, arestriction on animated images, battery condition indication, andnetwork connection mode.
 4. A method for dynamically selecting webobjects for delivery to a resource-limited microbrowser, said webobjects having one or more associated characteristics, said methodcomprising the steps of: sending a data set of at least one microbrowserreceiving limitation and one microbrowser state condition to a webobject server; receiving a set of web objects having characteristicswhich meet said limitation and state condition; and displaying, playing,or otherwise executing said received web objects in a microbrowser. 5.The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said step of sending a dataset comprises sending a limitation indication selected from the group ofa maximum transmission time, a maximum number of display colors, amaximum display area, a maximum memory consumption, a restriction onexecutable code, a restriction on animated images, battery conditionindication and network connection mode.
 6. The method as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said step of sending a data set comprises sending acookie to a server.
 7. A computer readable medium encoded with softwarefor dynamically selecting web objects for delivery to aresource-constrained microbrowser based upon user preferences and thestate of the microbrowser, said web objects having one or moreassociated characteristics, said software causing a server to performthe steps of: receiving a data set of at least one microbrowserreceiving limitation and one microbrowser state indication; selectingone or more web objects having characteristics which meet said receivinglimitation and state indication; and transmitting said selected webobjects to a microbrowser.
 8. The computer readable medium as set forthin claim 7 wherein said software for selecting one or more web objectscomprises software for consulting an index of web objectcharacteristics.
 9. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 7wherein said software for receiving a data set comprises software forreceiving a limitation indication selected from the group of a maximumtransmission time, a maximum number of display colors, a maximum displayarea, a maximum memory consumption, a restriction on executable code, arestriction on animated images, battery condition indication, and anetwork connection mode.
 10. A computer readable medium encoded withsoftware for dynamically selecting web objects for delivery to aresource-limited microbrowser based upon user preferences and the stateof the microbrowser, said web objects having one or more associatedcharacteristics, said software causing a microbrowser to perform thesteps of: sending a data set of at least one microbrowser receivinglimitation and at least one microbrowser state condition to a web objectserver; receiving a set of web objects having characteristics which meetsaid limitation and state condition; and displaying, playing, orotherwise executing said received web objects in a microbrowser.
 11. Thecomputer readable medium as set forth in claim 10 wherein said softwarefor sending a data set comprises software for sending a limitationindication selected from the group of a maximum transmission time, amaximum number of display colors, a maximum display area, a maximummemory consumption, a restriction on executable code, a restriction onanimated images, battery condition indication, and network connectionmode.
 12. The computer readable medium as set forth in claim 10 whereinsaid software for sending a data set comprises software for sending acookie to a server.
 13. A dynamic browsing governor for a microbrowserdriven by user preferences and the state of the microbrowser, saidmicrobrowser having an ability to request a plurality of web objectsfrom a server, to receive web objects from a server, and to display,play or otherwise execute web objects, said dynamic browsing governorcomprising: an Advertisement Configuration Data (ACD) set containing atleast one limitation for receipt of web objects and one microbrowserstate condition; and an ACD transmitter for sending said ACD to a serversuch that a server may consider said ACD when selecting and transmittingweb objects back to said microbrowser.
 14. The dynamic browsing governoras set forth in claim 14 wherein said ACD transmitter is adapted to sendsaid ACD with a page request.
 15. The dynamic browsing governor as setforth in claim 14 wherein said ACD transmitter is adapted to send saidACD responsive to receipt of an ACD request from a server.
 16. Thedynamic browsing governor as set forth in claim 14 wherein said ACD isadapted to contain limitation indicators selected from the group of amaximum transmission time, a maximum number of display colors, a maximumdisplay area, a maximum memory consumption, a restriction on executablecode, a restriction on animated images, a battery condition indication,and network connection mode.
 17. A dynamic serving governor for a serverof microbrowser driven by user preferences and the state of themicrobrowser, said server having an ability to receive request aplurality of web objects from a microbrowser and to transmit web objectsto a microbrowser, said dynamic serving governor comprising: anAdvertisement Configuration Data (ACD) set receiver for receiving from amicrobrowser a ACD containing at least one limitation for receipt of webobjects and at least one microbrowser state condition; and a web objectselector for selecting for transmission web objects which meet said ACDlimitations.
 18. The dynamic serving governor as set forth in claim 17wherein said ACD receiver is adapted to receive said ACD with a pagerequest.
 19. The dynamic serving governor as set forth in claim 17wherein said ACD receiver is adapted to receive said ACD in the form ofa cookie.
 20. The dynamic serving governor as set forth in claim 17wherein said ACD receiver is adapted to request said ACD from amicrobrowser.
 21. The dynamic serving governor as set forth in claim 17wherein said web object selector adapted to select web objects whichmatch at least one web object characteristic selected from the group ofa maximum transmission time, a maximum number of display colors, amaximum display area, a maximum memory consumption, a restriction onexecutable code, a restriction on animated images, a battery conditionindication, and a network connection mode.
 22. A method for preservingbattery life in a portable networked client device by restricting thetypes of web objects received by the client device based upon batteryconditions, said method comprising the steps of: determining thecondition of a battery in a networked client device; transmitting saidbattery condition from said networked client device to a web server;selecting only essential web objects in a web page for transmission bysaid web server to said client device if said battery condition is low,otherwise selecting all web objects in a web page for transmission bysaid web server to said client device; and transmitting said selectedweb objects to said networked client device.
 23. The method as set forthin claim 22 wherein said step of selecting only essential web objects ina web page for transmission by said web server to said client device ifsaid battery condition is low comprises restricting from transmissionadvertisement web objects.
 24. The method as set forth in claim 22wherein said step of selecting only essential web objects in a web pagefor transmission by said web server to said client device if saidbattery condition is low comprises restricting from transmissionanimated graphical web objects.
 25. The method as set forth in claim 22wherein said step of selecting only essential web objects in a web pagefor transmission by said web server to said client device if saidbattery condition is low comprises restricting from transmission videosegment and clip web objects.
 26. The method as set forth in claim 22wherein said step of selecting only essential web objects in a web pagefor transmission by said web server to said client device if saidbattery condition is low comprises restricting from transmission soundand audio web objects.
 27. The method as set forth in claim 22 whereinsaid step of selecting only essential web objects in a web page fortransmission by said web server to said client device if said batterycondition is low comprises restricting from transmission multicolor webobjects.